89 comments

There were no Soldiers of African descent in the British Army in Victorian times and Mark Gattis protested about one being in this episode but was over ruled by BBC executives. Is this a possible pointer towards who the next Doctor may be?

But there was only one though which sort of hints at a kind of subtle segregation and you’d think the problem would be broached with Bill as well like it was in thin ice

prototype dalek

June 15th, 2017 - 5:22pm

They might use the argument of him being drafted in from the British Empire Territories of Africa as that technically was a part of Britain at the time, which would make a bit more sense if going in to more detail.

DOCTORDREDD67

June 12th, 2017 - 9:41pm

Why did the Tardis leave the doctor and bill behind on mars?? I’m just curious.

Unexplained so far. I’m expecting it to play a part in the series finale.

Jordan Scott

June 13th, 2017 - 11:39pm

Same, I’m quite liking the mystery around it all.

Spamella

June 12th, 2017 - 8:42pm

I liked this espiode very much it was good to see the ice warriors in action, the doctor;s face was a picture when he saw Missy in his tardis coming to save him and Bill. The message on the planet’s surface of god save the queen added humour the story.

Very enjoyable episode…is it just me or does anyone else think the production budget has been cut in this series? Ever since Moffat took over, the show has had a cinematic feel to it, but this series looks cheap, like the RTD era? Th CGI is awful.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say this but I had absolutely no idea alpha century was going to be in this it was such an amazing classic Who reference and well I have to praise Mark Gatiss for putting that in

Also here is my ratings on series 10 so far
The Pilot – 9/10
Smile – 8/10
Thin Ice – 8/10
Knock Knock – 7/10
Oxygen – 10/10
Extremis – 8/10
The Pyramid at the End of the World – 6/10
The Lie of the Land – 5/10
Empress of Mars – 10/10

Alpha Centauri’s sudden appearance really jolted me and I clapped, thinking how many fans my age may have just punched the air, lol. Not only that, the original actress herself doing the voice once again, I wonder if Mark Gatiss donned his deerstalker and sought her out.

I think for some reason, best known to itself, the TARDIS decided to initiate the H.A.D.S
protocol. I can’t see Missy simply escaping to mess with the machine and go quietly back to her vault. If she’d have gained access to the TARDIS the universe would have been her oyster.

Really enjoyed this one. Was a lot of fun (which is what I thought the Monk trilogy was heavily lacking) and the Ice Warriors were great. Even though through the promotional images I was not a fan of the Ice Queen design, I have to say in the episode it looked great.
Second Favourite episode in this series!
Series ranking so far:-
The Pilot – 7/10
Smile – 7/10
Thin Ice – 8/10
Knock Knock – 7/10
Oxygen – 10/10
Extremis – 3/10
The Pyramid at the End of the World – 4/10
The Lie of the Land – 3/10
Empress of Mars – 9/10

Series Average – 6.44

A strong series only let down so far by the Monk trilogy which I just found so uninspired and frankly boring.

Really? I thought the Lie of the Land was the best in the series. That’s not saying much, but mine’d be:
The Pilot – 4/10
Smile – 6/10
Thin Ice – 5/10
Knock Knock – 3/10
Oxygen – 2/10
Extremis – 4/10
The Pyramid at the End of the World – 6/10
The Lie of the Land – 7/10
Empress of Mars – 1/10

The Temporal Jelly Baby

June 11th, 2017 - 9:00pm

OK, I’m curious. What’s so bad about Empress of Mars that makes it a 1/10? The reviews on here have been pretty positive about it so I’m interested in knowing why you differ from the majority here. My opinion is literally the opposite: Empress of Mars is my favourite and The Lie of the Land is my least favourite.

Queen Iraxxa

June 11th, 2017 - 9:21pm

Mine

The Pilot – 9/10
Smile – 8/10
Thin Ice – 8/10
Knock Knock – 7/10
Oxygen – 10/10
Extremis – 8/10
The Pyramid at the End of the World – 6/10
The Lie of the Land – 5/10
Empress of Mars – 10/10

pats86

June 11th, 2017 - 9:38pm

James Harlow clearly wants better than he is getting, as do I.
Not everyone gives high marks for mediocrity!

The Temporal Jelly Baby

June 11th, 2017 - 11:08pm

Of course, and that’s totally OK. I was only asking because a score of 1/10 suggests not merely disliking an episode but genuinely hating it. Naturally, having given Empress of Mars a score of 9/10, I’m curious as to what there is to genuinely hate about it.

Pats86

June 12th, 2017 - 7:01am

I must admit 1/10 does seem harsh, but we all see the show differently. I myself gave the episode 7/10 and for me that is quite high and although this is a much better season compared to the last two or three it still is not good enough, I genuinely expect much better that what is on offer.
Personally I do not understand where all these high scores are given out over what I see as mediocre writing, this is hardly a golden age for Doctor Who in my opinion, but as a life long fan like many others I will always stand by it.

prototype dalek

June 12th, 2017 - 10:10am

Therefore he might not be a dedicated fan that watches every episode of every series, seems that only 3 of his scores are above 5 and 1/10 for empress of mars personally seems very harsh, some episode’s can be not as good as others but 1/10 for a seemingly very good episode just seems strange and just wonder why it was so bad that they would hate it

James Harlow

June 13th, 2017 - 10:08pm

I genuinely hated it. It wasn’t a specific thing as such, but lots of small things I really didn’t like.

Something just felt off, all the way through. I didn’t particularly like the concept of Victorians on Mars to begin with, regardless of whatever reasoning they gave. The “nobody will ever remember this” aspect is taken straight from the end of The Day Of The Doctor.

The introduction seemed like the TV version of clickbait. There was next to no reason for the Doctor and co to be there, just to shoehorn in the idea of Mars. And why “God Save The Queen”? Sure, it’s a thing Victorian soldiers said, but I highly doubt any Victorian, or the Doctor, or Bill, or an Ice Warrior, would decide to write that specific phrase to communicate with Earth.

The Ice Warriors, I thought, were poorly executed. In 1967, they were sinister, with snake-like voices, and clunky, eerie movements and suits. The theme of staying hidden from the Ice Warriors, like the Xenomorphs in Alien, was replicated well in New-Who episodes such as Cold War, and well (apart from the leaving the suit bit). Fear was the last thing I felt during the Empress Of Mars episode. And why the Ice Warriors’ arm weapons were replaced with shooters that turn you into a ball is beyond me. I think, if you’re trying to use creatures introduced in the 60s, there shouldn’t be any fancy graphics, CG, or effects used to replicate them. If, originally, they were just men in suits making noises, the best way to honour that now is to do the same.

I didn’t like the voice of the Ice Warrior Izlyr on Peladon, so I think Empress should have used the voices like the original ’67 Ice Warriors episode, rather than a generic (I’m a scary alien lizard) the Empress of the Racnoss, and the Silurians (new-who) have already taken.

These things, the overacting, and more, are why I don’t like this episode. I can sort of see why people might like it, but it really wasn’t for me. I liked the Alpha Centauri cameo, but there honestly wasn’t really anything else about the episode I enjoyed.

Pats86

June 16th, 2017 - 6:54am

Fair enough James, you expect better and I’m with you on that.

Whorules

June 11th, 2017 - 4:39pm

Can’t say I’m looking forward to simms coming back, never thought he was that great an actor. How about Chris Marshall for the next master?

It was because Ferdinand kinglsey plays a chef in ITV’s Victoria and so it was a Doctor Who mash up. Catchlove sent by a young victoria played by Jenna Louise Coleman to mars XD. I loved the continuity in the portrait of Victoria as well. ITV’s Victoria is just a game of spot the Doctor Who character they’ve got jenna Coleman, eve Myles, tommy knight, the bloke who played uncle and I swear there’s more

It wasn’t explained. Maybe Missy somehow sabotaged the Tardis so that she’d get released from the vault?

Random Critic

June 11th, 2017 - 2:15pm

These British characters from the 1800s are just hilarious. Even without the sci-fi element, I’d watch just for the period drama stuff alone.

In this episode, I didn’t particularly have much interest in the Ice Warriors and their pantomime villain spiel. However, the British army soldiers more than made up for that, and Catchlove just stole the show with almost every one of his lines.

It was nice to see the death flag still in use. Yes, Vincey, when this is all over, you’re definitely gonna get back to your gal and live happily ever after. Lol! Honestly, the only thing more funny than listening to that was watching Catchlove later use him as a human shield and then nail it with the line “Sod this for a game of soldiers”. I really can’t hate the guy for being such an entertaining self-serving rat-bag, rather like Arnold Rimmer.

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